Category Archive: gender

When it comes to inequity, especially in the LGBTI community, there is still a lot that needs to be said. Too many unjust ‘—isms’ and ‘—phobias’ hold sway over our society, and it is right to get angry because of that: to break it down, to pick these bits of bigotry apart so they hold …

“You’re a fucking disgrace!” shouted a drunken youth, hanging out of a low-slung, headlights blazing, Falcon GT as I walked out of the Directors Hotel in Adelaide after my first ‘Transgender Friday’ meeting. I waved and smiled, but I don’t think it helped my position on his disgracefulness ladder. Until then I hadn’t appreciated how …

It’s disappointing, not being able to have multiple orgasms anymore. Not that I’d swap them for the deep sense of happiness I now feel inhabiting a male body, but losing that ability was not something I’d anticipated as a result of transitioning my physical body from female to male. Ditto waking up one day and …

“IT REALLY SURPRISES me that I’m attracted to you,” my last girlfriend told me. “I’m usually attracted to much butcher women.” The edges of my bow-tie curled up and my asymmetrical quiff flopped down over my face. I felt like a billboard for a queer subcategory. And apparently the billboard was in need of some …

Queer rights have made a big leap forward in Australia. In a short space of time, a number of legal advances have been introduced including recognition of relationships, alterations to identity documents, and a broader tolerance towards some sexual practices. Despite this, queer youth are still among some of the most likely Australians to suffer …

The Big Bang Theory tells us that after the start of the universe, there was an amorphous cloud of atoms and particles. The catalyst for the coalescing of the gases and dust were very small differences in that early cosmic soup. If it wasn’t for these differences and mutations, the universe would never have formed. I …

“Bet she’s a lesbian.” It’s not particularly hushed, this comment made in the year 12 common room. Yet it’s not uncommon. Growing up in country Victoria, with short hair and no particular interest in giving blowjobs to the boys I’d known since age eight, I wasn’t the height of popularity in my class. No-one questioned …

Yesterday, the Courier-Mail put the gruesome murder of Indonesian transwoman Mayang Prasetyo, killed by her partner Marcus Volker, on its front page. The article is breathtaking in its prurience and voyeurism. Even though Prasetyo was murdered and dismembered, The Courier-Mail deemed it appropriate to include a succession of photos of a seductively-posed Prasetyo in a …

LIKE THOSE IT marches for, SlutWalk is a diverse movement. You don’t have to fit any particular mould to join — not least because ‘slut’ is used against women so loosely the word has lost much of its meaning (though not all of its bite). It’s up to the individual whether they want to reclaim …

Airing on the ABC last month, Carlotta takes us on the journey of Carol Lee, an Australian icon who went from Balmain boy to Les Girls luminary and cultural phenomenon. But despite a rich and compelling story and an excellent cast, the production manages to miss the point of both Les Girls and Carlotta entirely. At its …